St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1887-09-10
WASHINGTON LETTER.
Froin our Regular Correspondent.

w a 'AAA-'" h'.>s ~ y. aux 90. 1906
1t seems To ne ll,at the public Ian.
policy of this Administrator con,
mehds IT tn the favor of the. people ia
more than any other TREASURE it la
adopted. There has been II" cessation
III the great wnik Ut nvrrIIauliny III,
swlnilInR nanipuIatinu> ut hungr,
lanh- sharks, ana the railway cuil,ru
tlnnS have also been made. to .iiSrnrs.
much of free pr"pIrs lirtI.right. ruth
lessly given away hy Republican AL
mlniItrall,,,A. Under the swamp lane
law. passed 10y Congress in 1850. author,
! ~ "as granted certain States, Will
! public lands in their builders, ia .iiaii
/ and reclaim all swamp and oven, Il 1--WE,
! lands. preparing then, Tor purposes o
| agriculture; later, acts wtlt pa>>e,
granting 10 the States with Snrh land.
! and indemnity of 81 % per acre foI
! each acre of swamp Land sold hy tn.
| Government after the act Of 1850 and
M to the date of the iutltmnty act al
! 1850. Then i'll 1897. Congress. pas>tti 4
law securing 10 each State the titles
To such Tracts a. were condemned hi
the several States IA swamp lands
Now, SO far "a can I've asctriaint.h.
Louisiana is the only State that has
made any attempt To reclaim THESE
lands, aud that WAS s'.nn abandoned
You can at d Thought see what Il vast
field of fraud WAS in,ltinyly nprn..i
10y the government, full advantage Of
which was taken Ivy tlnii>hntlS at uu-
scrupuinuS persons win, falsely swuit
away millions uf acres ct the most
fertile public lands the settlers and The
United States land agents often making
"cumhint" against the Government
in their nrtari"u~ work. A. the swamp
law WAS pas>ed thirty-~tvrn years ago.
If the law had been earned uut in good
faith, the States would h ave long since.
reclaimed all such lands: hut, still.
"swamp land claims" are being almost
daily presented. The malicious ATTACK
made upon Commissioner Spark are sole
~ dine to bis tfnris to check aud cn,
rect this gigantic swintI.-fm which h.,
ia entitled to the highest pr.,iS".
Civil Service retu,iIi seems to hr max
ing pretty far prnyrrS> under the u-u
regulations II curing clerks in office /"
be examined A few days ago I'll.
ClviI Srrvlre C,mmi~>ion received from
., c. - ,,,, F.,.
certificates of 212 ellyi,I.>-.,ll n,alt>-
fran v hich So ~-I-rli"liS NAV he mad,
to fill existing variucIts. To supply
this, the largest rQri~lii"n ever mail
on the Commission, at least fnui crrtif
Gates were made for each of the States
and Territories. The Civil Service
commissioners are divided IN "plrtl"l,
III regard To the power nf dismissal.
Mr. Eigrrt"n, holding that the ap-
pointing authority has absolute pnwel
IF dismissal, while his coIltayues cnu-
tend that surl, lmwer is restricted by
the Civil Service law.
The Interstate Commerce Liw seems
to be steadily growing in popular ia
vur. Senator Butler of South Carolina
who opposrd the nra-nre. has been
won over Ivy his recent +xpeiirlic,. III ii
railroad Collision, aud in cons. qurncr.
he prop,s-s tn I,iimiuce amendments
70 the law, regulating the speed ct
rains and limiting the time of railroad
employees tn twelve hours consecutive
ervicr in a day.
National Bank Repositories now hold
larger sum of Government funds
han ever btfore-the amount being
BOO. 257 2O4.
Over seven million and half trade
iollars have been re'lrem+d t" date. /
more than half of " hich have been re-
oined Into limra.
The Testimony in seven contested
lection, Cases has been received and
printed by the clerk of the House If
which, brll-v-, ia II
much smaller number than usual.
Al the last Cabinet meeting. for The
irst time during this Administrator,
III the memhrrs We're absent. except
B ,ya'd-ihe other pnrtfnlius
'eing represented Ivy Assistant Secrp-
aries.
A. it ia regarded as practically set
led that President Cleveland will hr
some interest il M.ing
manifested in the nomination for Vice
President. and both Post MASTER G ne
al Villas and Commissioner Black have.
ern often mentioned. Many long
eadpd D .mnmrafic sta,rstnan and
oliticians are nnLrrStnmi to- favor u
older for etrnnh place. and it ia pre-
able the President is of the same
pinion.
Although the International Medical
Ong, ess iIHps not meet till next week.
rlrRat+s have already begun to AZ
i've. and the pr"graruu,r has been
Simply the titles of the
to hr ,rad aud The MINES
T the authors make u column of non
areil in an evening newspaper.
81, 3